On PacktPub.com (Packt Publishing) there's a recent article from Alfonso Romero that looks at using the combination of NetBeans, VirtualBox and the Turnkey LAMP appliance to set up a development environment.

We will learn how to configure NetBeans, VirtualBox and the Turnkey LAMP Appliance to develop complex PHP applications in a virtual environment. This article explains the process of creating a virtual machine, configuring the NetBeans PHP IDE, and managing a WordPress project with NetBeans in a step wise manner.

He walks you through each step of the way including links to all the software you'll need, screenshots of the VirtualBox setup, and how to setup NetBeans to work with the WordPress installation.